Brest vs. Real Madrid live score: Champions League result, updates, stats from league phase finale

By | January 29, 2025
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Real Madrid hope to lock down a seeded spot in the Champions League knockout stage as they wrap up the league phase with a trip to French club Brest on Wednesday.

After an early scare, Los Blancos recovered their position to 16th in the table heading into the final day. They have already mathematically wrapped up qualification to the knockout stage, and are now gunning for a seeded spot in the draw, which requires them to remain level or move up in the standings.

They face a visit to Brest, who are in a similar position. The French side have enjoyed a meteoric rise in recent years, and have also secured a spot in the knockout stage in their first-ever European competition.

Real Madrid will be without Vinicius Jr, who is suspended for yellow card accumulation after being booked for diving in their match last week.

The Sporting News is following the Brest vs. Real Madrid match live, providing score updates, commentary.

Latest live updates | Team news and lineups | How to watch where you are

Brest vs. Real Madrid score

  Score Goal scorers
Brest — –
Real Madrid — –

Location: Stade de Roudourou (Guingamp, France)
Referee: Espen Eskas (NOR)

Keep track of every game and every goal via SN’s live Champions League scoreboard

Starting lineups:

Brest (4-4-2, right to left): 40. Marco Bizot (GK) — 7. Kenny Lala, 5. Brendan Chardonnet, 44. Soumaila Coulibaly, 26. Mathias Pereira Lage — 8. Hugo Magnetti, 9. Kamory Doumbia, 6. Edmilson Fernandes, 45. Mahdi Camara —19. Ludovic Ajorque, 14. Mama Balde.

Real Madrid (4-2-3-1, right to left): 1. Thibaut Courtois (GK) — 17. Lucas Vazquez, 14. Aurelien Tchouameni, 22. Antonio Rudiger, 23. Ferland Mendy — 10. Luka Modric, 8. Federico Valverde — 21. Brahim Diaz, 5. Jude Bellingham, 11. Rodrygo — 9. Kylian Mbappe.

MORE: Find out how to stream the Brest vs. Real Madrid match LIVE

Brest vs. Real Madrid live updates, highlights from Champions League

15 mins to kickoff: As we get close to kickoff, here’s what’s at stake in today’s game, with the Champions League standings accessible here.

For 16th-placed Real Madrid, they can theoretically reach a Round of 16 bye with a win, but they would have to jump a massive eight clubs to do so, which seems unlikely. More than likely, they would secure a seeded position in the knockout playoff phase if they emerge with three points.

For Brest, the situation is similar as they sit 13th in the table prior to kickoff, a point above Madrid. They would have to jump five teams to reach the top eight, which is still a reach but certainly possible. Even a point would likely be enough for them to also be a seeded playoff side, given four teams would have to leap them with victories to fall out of the 9-16 range.

30 mins to kickoff: With 18 matches kicking off at the same time — the first time in Champions League history they will have that kind of simultaneous slate — the CBS prematch show in the United States brought in the legendary NFL Red Zone host Scott Hanson to chat about covering multiple games at one time.

Of course, it took Jamie Carragher two minutes to call him “Steve,” which feels on brand.

45 mins to kickoff: Today’s hosts, Stade Brestois, are not playing at their regular home ground. They usually play games at Stade Francis Le Ble in Brest, but have made the decision to play their Champions League games about an hour away in Guingamp.

This is because their regular home ground is only rated as a Category 2 venue by UEFA, due to the fact that three of their four stands are constructed using a tubular model, which is banned by UEFA. Had they hosted UCL matches at Stade Francis Le Ble, they would have had to close the three tubular stands, limiting their capacity to just 5,000 spectators.

Instead, they will play all European matches at the 19,000-seat Stade de Roudourou until they can get moving on their brand new venue, which is still currently in the planning phase.

1 hour to kickoff: The Brest lineup has been submitted, and it’s an interesting one. Head coach Eric Roy has gone all-in on central midfielders, at the lack of real width. It appears to be potentially a 4-4-2, maybe even a diamond, with Edmilson Fernandes at the base and Kamory Doumbia pulling the strings at the top.

1 hour 15 mins to kick: Brest supporters have gone all-out in Guingamp before this huge match! It’s potentially the biggest match in the little French club’s history.

1 hour 30 mins to kick: As usual, Real Madrid have released their starting lineup exceedingly early. Young full-back Raul Asencio was impressive over the weekend, but drops out of the XI with Lucas Vazquez returning to the back line. It’s Brahim Diaz up front once again with Vinicius Jr. suspended.

19-year-old playmaker Pol Fortuny is named to the bench and could potentially make his Real Madrid debut today.

1 hour 45 mins to kick: Brest are an absolutely fascinating club. They have experienced an absolutely meteoric rise over the last two years, on essentially zero transfer expenditure. It’s almost entirely down to their manager Eric Roy, in just his second career managerial job, having spent most of his post-playing days as a sporting director.

You can read more about the club, its history, and why they aren’t playing on their home ground today here.

2 hours to kickoff: Real Madrid will be without Vinicius Jr today, who is suspended for yellow card accumulation. The Champions League has always been Vini’s best and favorite competition, and that remains true this year.

According to analytical site WhoScored, Vinicius is the second-highest rated player in the whole UCL field, behind only Ballon d’Or candidate Raphinha. It will be up to Kylian Mbappe and Rodrygo to make up the difference today if they are to avoid defeat on French soil for a second time in this league phase.

Brest vs. Real Madrid kick off time

This Champions League match kicks off from Stade de Roudourou on Wednesday, January 29 at 9 p.m. local time in Guingamp, France. Here’s how that time translates across some of the major territories around the globe:

  Date Kickoff time
USA/Canada Wed, Jan. 29 3 p.m. ET
USA/Canada Wed, Jan. 29 12 p.m. PT
UK Wed, Jan. 29 8 p.m. GMT
Australia Thu, Jan. 30 7 a.m. AEDT
India Thu, Jan. 30 1:30 a.m. IST

Brest vs. Real Madrid lineups, team news

The French hosts have been ravaged by injuries at the back, with defenders Bradley Locko, Jordan Amavi, Julien Le Cardinal, and Massadio Haidara all struggling for fitness. It has left head coach Eric Roy to decide on Soumaila Coulibaly over Abdoulaye Ndiaye in central defence.

Midfielder Jonas Martin is also sidelined with a muscle injury, leaving Brest a bit thinner in the center of the pitch, while forward Mama Balde is in the XI despite departing each of their past two games with injuries.

Roy has also picked Edimilson Fernandes, who was deployed in midfield last week, over Romain Faive, who started over the weekend in domestic play. At left-back, young Luck Zogbe is starting in Ligue 1 but was not registered for Champions League play, leaving Mathias Pereira Lage to again take over.

MORE: Read up on Stade Brestois here, including their name, history, home ground, and manager

Brest starting lineup (4-4-2): Bizot (GK) — Lala, Chardonnet, Coulibaly, Pereira Lage — Magnetti, Doumbia, Fernandes, Camara — Ajorque, Balde.

Brest subs (9): Coudert (GK), Jauny (GK), Ndiaye, Le Cardinal, Lees-Melou, Faivre, Sima, Salah, Del Castillo.

Vinicius will be suspended for this league-phase finale, having earned his third yellow card of the competition last time out for simulation. This could mean that Brahim Diaz gets the start out wide, just as he did over the weekend when Vini was also suspended for a league match against Real Valladolid.

With David Alaba still slowly working his way back to full match fitness, earning 22 minutes off the bench over the weekend, it’s still up to Aurelien Tchouameni to deputize at centre-back from the start. Eder Militao is out for the season with a torn ACL and Eduardo Camavinga is down with a hamstring injury.

Dani Carvajal is also out with his torn ACL, creating a constant question at right-back. Although usually a centre-back, young Raul Asencio impressed over the weekend and could be rewarded with a Champions League start, or Federico Valverde could be asked to deputize again in an unfamiliar position.

Real Madrid starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Courtois (GK) — L. Vazquez, Tchouameni, Rudiger, Mendy — Modric, Valverde — B. Diaz, Bellingham, Rodrygo — Mbappe.

Real Madrid subs (11): Lunin (GK), Mestre (GK), Alaba, Asencio, Ramon, Ceballos, F. Garcia, Fortuny, Guler, G. Garcia, Endrick.

Brest vs. Real Madrid live stream, TV channel

Here is how to watch the match in some of the world’s major regions:

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